BAUKO, Mountain Province – Pesticide companies who refuse to get back the containers of their products and properly dispose the same through environmentally-friendly means will be barred from doing business in the municipality by the end of this month.
Mayor Abraham B. Akilit recently entered into an agreement with close to 30 representatives of pesticide companies and concerned government agencies as well as barangay officials where the chemical companies are obliged to get back the containers of their products from the farmers and for the same to be disposed in an environmentally-friendly manner to help in efforts of the local government to significantly reduce the toxic chemicals that pollute not only the land but also the air and major water systems that serve as the source of potable water of the residents.
“We will be giving a chance for representatives of other chemical companies who were not able to join us in the signing of the agreement to be fair with everyone because the local government will be imposing a total ban on the sale of their products in the municipality once they fail to sign the agreement by the end of this month,” Mayor Akilit stressed.
Aside from banning the companies to do business in the different parts of the municipality, the local chief executive claimed that the products of the pesticide companies that fail to sign the agreement will also not be used by the farmers to serve as their penalty for refusing to actively participate in the efforts of the locality to implement programs and projects beneficial in sustaining the improving state of the town’s environment because it is the only asset of the government that should be preserved and protected for the benefit of the present and future generations.
The multipartite agreement was also signed by representatives of the Fertilizers and Pesticides Authority (FPA), Department of the Interior and Local government (DILG), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the 22 punong barangays of the locality to ensure the strict implementations of its terms and conditions.
Mayor Akilit disclosed that there are some representatives of chemical companies who signified their intention to sign the agreement but were not able to join the signing ceremony that is why the local government deemed it necessary to give them a timeframe for them to agree to the terms before its full enforcement by the first week of June.
Akilit is a known staunch advocate of the preservation and protection of the town’s environment because of the important role of the Mount Data forest reservation as the headwaters of four major river systems in northern Luzon providing abundant water supply for the lowland communities and that his pro-environment position could be traced back when he was still the former regional manager of the Cordillera office of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA-CAR) over a decade ago.
He pointed out what is being done in preserving and protecting the town’s environment is making sure present and future generations enjoy the good condition of the environment where they will reap the fruits of full grown trees and clean bodies of water as well as productive lands.
By HENT
